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Am I Missing Something Here?

Mashable – Groupon CEO Andrew Mason announced the decision yesterday on the company’s blog, stating: We’ve listened to your feedback, and since we don’t see the point in continuing to anger people, we’re pulling the ads. Mason noted that a few ads may still be running on February 11, but will be off the air as soon as possible.

To those who were offended, I feel terrible that we made you feel bad, wrote Mason. While we’ve always been a little quirky, we certainly aren’t trying to be the kind of company that builds its brand on creating controversy – we think the quality of our product is a much stronger message.

Mason’s decision comes after a post on February 7, the day after the game, in which he explained that he takes the causes mentioned in the ads whales, Brazilian rain forest deforestation and human rights in Tibet seriously, and that the company was raising money for organizations related to those causes.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeYtnw4zyg4

Clearly I’m missing something over here. I watched this Groupon Superbowl ad 5 times and still fail to see what is so offensive about it. Here is the transcript, broken down line for line, and with my comments:

• Mountainous Tibet. One of the most beautiful places in the world. Sounds okay to me
• This is Timothy Hutton. Sup dude?
• The people of Tibet are in trouble. Okay, that sucks. Maybe I’ll go wikipedia what’s up with the human rights issues there. Thanks for raising awareness and making me a better global citizen
• Their very culture is in Jeopardy. That sucks. Feel bad for you, bros.
• But they still whip up an amazing fish curry. Gross. Sounds disgusting.
• And since 200 of us bought a groupon.com, we’re each getting $30 of Tibetan food for just $15 for Himalayan restaurant in Chicago. Sounds good to me.

Here’s the rainforest one:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtH_Zka_o7U

It starts off very serious and seems genuinely like they;re trying to raise awareness. Then they say: “But not all deforestation is bad” and then it’s a waxing commercial. Har har har. Clever. Um… They were making a clever joke about hair you morons. They weren’t talking about fucking trees when they said “not all deforestation is bad.”

Oh and even though Elizabeth Hurley is like 50, I’d pretty much be up for anything with her, forest or not.

Here’s the Whale one:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fboyGZm_IdM

“Someone’s gotta save them… But it’s more fun watching them jumping and playing” – I’m assuming that means go ahead and save them so we can watch them jump and play. No one ever said they were going to just let whales drop the hell dead. Then there would be none to watch. Duh

No one can take a fucking joke anymore. Man up. Yes, these aren’t the funniest commercials. They’re borderline meh/average. But that’s not the point. I mean, poor Groupon spent $3 million dollars on this shit only to get a bad rep? They’re helping you save money. Be appreciative, assclowns.

PS – I really want to say that the CEO is a pussy for pulling the ads and not growing balls enough to stand by and defend them. At the same time, I understand how he doesn’t want to drive the company underground. Sometimes you just have to please the masses and if that means you look like a little bitch to save your company and get richer, so be it.

PPS – Livingsocial should run ads saying that Groupon is a cold heartless company that supports deforestation and killing whales. That’d sink em!